January 29, 2006

Mom,
Wow, so right at this very moment you are probably oreinting, or on the way to orient for your new job. thats so cool!

Ahh, yes, G-Mas 29th birthday. I remember her last 29th birthday. always much fun.

How is Nat's new apartment? is Ryan studying for the ASVAB? thats good.

How are the Hamiltons. i Didnt really get to know them all that well, since they left on their mission. It sounds like your having a good time w/ the ward though.

The weather. yes, freeeeezing. Especially on friday! it was -20 with wind chill. the news actualy used the words "Arctic Winds". Not a lot of snow though. there is some on the ground, but not much.

I did make the Dip, and my wrists and forearm were dying, but it was totaly worth it. There is a lot of dip there. I was kinda amazed! it was good though. but not as good as yours.

No run-ins with the spitter lately. Whenver we get into the Davis square area, i always turn on like the commando mode, and am like moving around carefuly, and scanning the crowd for her ruthless scowl. haha

The work is going great. We had such a powerful lesson with Moniz last night. He is from Rowanda, Angola, and has just been amazing working iwth him. We have asked him to be baptized twice now, but he is still unsure. He knows Joseph Smith is a prophet, and he knows the BoM is God's word. I dont know what his hold up is. i think perahps its that he is unsure of himself being able to live up to the commandments? We also have dinnner with Tony, our ivnestigator form Thailand. He has come such a long way. He now believes in God, and we have been focusing on helpin him get a testimony of Jesus Christ. We are having dinner with him on thursday with a bunch of other missionaries and a member. It will be great. If he gets baptized then he will be the first person ive ever found/taught/baptized. I guess Michael and Sue dont count becuase they were Part members, or member referals. oh yah, did i tell you that Sue from North Adams finaly got baptized? hahah im so happy for her!! i miss N. Adams, and wish i had the time to write to the branch there. It would be nice to be a ZL in springfield so i could go up there and visit on tours lol. im just dreaming. We area also teaching this guy named Seth. He is awesome, and although he has a few concerns, his sincerity cannot be beaten. He is awesome, and hope that he will come to church and be baptized soon. We are still working with Fabio from Albania. He is such a good guy, and a real friend. His family is so nice, and its so humbling to see their kindness to us. Fabio comes to church every week, i just dont know what his holdup about baptism is. He is comming ot one on Saturday ,so maybe that will sway his opinion. We recuieved a referal from some sister missionaries for a guy names Cristiano. We taught him a first lesson ,and will be teaching him again on tuesday. He is great, and is probably going to be baptized. We also are going to work with this guy named Fernando. He is from Maracibo(sp?) Venezuela. He is way cool ,and a Member Referal. We hope to meet with him sometime soon.

Elder Reyna is awesome. He is from Monterrey Mexico, called to English speaking mission. He has been teahcing me some spanish, although i suck at it lol. He is the guy right in front of me in the pic.

I actually have thought about it a fews times about how much cleaner the house probably is w/o pets around.

Im glad that you saw Matt. he is so funny. Tell him that i saw hi, and congratulations for his promotion! thats so cool! tell him ive got about a year left, and then ill come visit him.

well, love ya, miss ya, ttyl!
Elder Onken

January 22, 2007

Mom,
Yah, the weather, i heard about that!! Its not even snowing here, but it is there. Thats weird. I bet So Cal was not ready for that kind of weather.
It sounds like things are going on as normal back home. Whatever that may be. I didnt know that Matt got a divorce, geeze.
Im sure your excited to go back to work. Will it be all work in the hospital, or will you be visiting patients like with the hospice stuff?
I got the package, everything intact, thats so much. Nothing really special from home i can think of. As a missionary you learn that you really dont NEED that much.
That work is goin great! we have had some really good lessons, and its been quite a blessing to not have to do as much contacting. Elder Reyna is awesome, and we have been having a lot of fun together. The other day, we did have a running with the 'Spitter', as i have come to name her. This one lady, just always spits on us every time we walk past here. one time she tried to trip me into the train... yah. not fun. I wonder what her story is. We never get mad, just smile and walk off, and i think that bugs her most of all.
well, i dont think ill be x-fered any time soon, but thats good. i like the area and my comp. Things are great with the work, but nothing huge. I gotta run, time is gone. love ya, miss ya, ttyl!
Elder Onken

January 15, 2007

Well, good letter!
President Shumway is a good guy. He would give some devotionals at the school every so often.
Im bummed that Brother Lang got released from the High Council. I was thinking id be lucky enough to score some jell-o at the break-the-fasts when i got home.
Im glad that thigns are working out for the Jones' i love that family. Brother Jones had a huge role in me deciding to go on a mission, and i dont remember if i ever told him that.
i cant believe nick and jamie have been married for 3 years already!!! thats crazy how fast the time goes.
Ah yes, born agains. I dont get why they feel so much animosity towards mormons. Its so frustrating. "Love thy enemies", not "love having enemies".
Archaeological evidence, eh? why not the spirit? what kind of evidence of the bible is there? tents? not really. show me proof of noah's ark, moses parting the red sea, the exodus, elisha's floating axe head, Jonah in the giant fish, Baalsams talking donkey etc. thats much more "far-out" than burried plates of gold (which they actually have discrovered many, not to mention those with the Dead Sea Scrolls etc), and angels. The Moabite stone, thats archaelogical evidence of the proof that sacrifice of children works!! KJV likens it unto the Latin? except we READ it. the thing i like most about the KJV of the LDS is the lack of commentary, i run into so many people that think they are reading the bible and getting their belief from the bible, but just are reading the commentary!!! i could go on for days about the hypocrisy of the born-agains against the mormons... all it really comes down to is this: if they dont believe the book of mormon on grounds of archaeology and evidence, then its probably because thats why the DO believe in the Bible. However, they claim they believe the bible to be the unerrorable word of God (ps, compare teh two contradicting stories of Paul's conversion found in acts, or the two of Judas' death in matthew and acts), but it deosnt seem like that in review. Its really a double standard. faithless imho. but i guess its because im talking abou tthe hardest of hard core born agains that i have met with. I debated with a born again who had 2 masters in divinity... the conclusion after 2 hours is that he admited he doesnt know for sure if the bible is the true word of God, and he admittted that only through sincere prayer is anything known to be from God... he refused to read the Book of Mormon because he was scared of an answer... sad.
Well, this week went great. New comp, love him to death. he is awesome. We asked Tony to be baptized, and he said no, but said that its only because after fasting the answer was "be patient". but he is making great steps in faith!! i true miracle!!
well, thats about it for now. More later!
love ya, ttyl!
Elder Onken

January 8, 2007

Well, it sounds like things are going well back home ( i always say that). sorry your bored. i dont remember what Greg is talking about. how is his bird? i tell that story all the time, about tehg aitn bird. they dont see a lot of em here.

Viva Italia is so good. i know thats the place you went, because thats the Dubrows favorite italian place. on ventura blvd, or somthing, right? i dont remember street names anymore... ::sigh::. its like i know boston better than the valley now. lol.

i got a letter from the young men of the ward. im going to write them back, i just need some time. so you can tell them that i just need some time.

Transfers went interestingly... neither of us got moved, but then we got a call on saturday (x-fers are on thursdays), and Elder Fletcher was getting moved into the office to take the place of a senior missionary who is going home. They dont have a replacement, so he is taking the spot. he is mad. i took him to dinner to help cheer him up, but it didnt work too well. he says "im not mad, im just...". that tells me its probably self-induced, and a way to vent whatever has been on his mind. i think it will be good for him. so that happens today. my new comp will be Elder Reyna. he is from mexico. he is a new ZL, but he has been out for a while. it will be fun. hes a good guy.

yes, i know an Elder Johnson. there are 3 of em, and the 2 i know the best are both english speakers, Cameron, and Mark, but the other guy i know also. Which Elder Davenport? there are two now, and one of them is in Amherst. which area is he in? Elder Brewster eh? well tell them that he will probably be trained by Elder Foley in teh cambridge south zone (Thats a random guess, but possible). and if thats the case, he will be in my zone!!

im super tired lately, but its okay. im thinking things are getting bacvk into a good jive. hopefuly now with elder Reyna working will be easier w/o having to deal with trunkiness of a comp. well, i gotta run. love ya, talk to you later!

Elder Onken

January 2, 2007

Hey Mom!
Well, it sounds like things back home are just falling right back into the pace they usually are in.
Things here are good. New Years was uneventful. We taught a guy and had dinner at the older Marine Corps Barracks in the United States, 1808 i think. It was cool.
Other than that, this week was fairly slow. Transfers are on thursday, and we will find out what happens tonight. We arnt quite sure what will happen, but itll be okay.
I cant believe my year mark is comming up so soon! its crazy how fast the time goes.
How was Dave's homecomming? i got an email from him. im excited to hear how he is adjusting.
Well, not much to talk about this week. sorry! love ya, miss ya, talk to you later!
Elder Onken